Man to take on 140-mile triathlon for charity

A LOCAL athlete will be taking on his first full Ironman triathlon this summer to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Experienced runner Sam Duggins will be taking on the Ironman in Bolton on 17th July, when he will swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run a marathon (26.2mi) – all  within a time limit of 17 hours.

Sam said, “I’m feeling a mixture of emotions at the moment: excited, nervous, scared, petrified. The event will be a real test; I know I can complete the distance  but I need to make sure I do it in the time given.

“I’ve always strived to push the my life and saw the Ironman as the ultimate challenge. I completed a half Ironman a few years back and always said I’d love to do a full one. It seemed like something only super heroes did, and I wanted to be part of that club! I don’t have a target time for finishing, I’d just like to finish before the pubs close so I can celebrate with a deserved pint with my long suffering and very supportive partner, Emma.

Sam, a sales manager at Roger Bullivant in Westbury, is raising sponsorship  for Macmillan ahead of the race. “I’ve chosen to fundraise for Macmillan because  although I’ve been very fortunate in my family to have no history of cancer, I know that it affects a lot of people,” he added. “I have a lot of friends who have seen the illness take loved ones and I wanted to help in any way possible. My fundraising is going well but I’m relatively new to the area and do not have a big base of friends locally, so I’m using social media to promote it as much as I possibly can.”

Sam has raised over £500 of his £1,600 target. To sponsor him online search his name at uk.virginmoneygiving.com
Sam will also be documenting his training on his Instagram profile sam_the_ obscure